Summary

The National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) series
provides information on health expenditures by or on behalf of families
and individuals, the financing of these expenditures, and each person's
use of services. Public Use Tape 16 is the second public use data
release from the NMES Health Insurance Plans Survey (HIPS). The purpose
of the HIPS was to verify information reported by respondents to two
components of the NMES, the Household Survey and the Survey of American
Indians and Alaska Natives (SAIAN), about their health insurance
coverage. Additional details were also obtained from the employers,
unions, and insurance companies through which coverage was provided.
Parts 1 and 2 of Public Use Tape 16 are files that can be used to link
data to Household Survey policyholders in NATIONAL MEDICAL EXPENDITURE
SURVEY, 1987: POLICYHOLDERS OF PRIVATE INSURANCE: PREMIUMS, PAYMENT
SOURCES, AND TYPES AND SOURCE OF COVERAGE [PUBLIC USE TAPE 15] (ICPSR
9901). These link files permit identification of the records in the
Private Health Insurance Benefit Database (Parts 3-17 of this
collection) that describe the specific benefits held by the
policyholders. These files also permit linkage to the personal and
socioeconomic characteristics for these policyholders found in NATIONAL
MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY, 1987: HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, POPULATION
CHARACTERISTICS AND PERSON-LEVEL UTILIZATION, ROUNDS 1-4 [PUBLIC USE
TAPE 13] (ICPSR 9695). Future link files will permit linkage of the
Benefit Database to persons in the SAIAN and to dependents of
policyholders in the Household Survey. The section files of the Benefit
Database, Parts 4-13, contain information on Health Maintenance
Organizations (HMOs), copayments, basic coverage, hospital and medical
services, cost-containment provisions, major medical coverage, dental
care, prescription drugs, vision and hearing care, and Medicare
benefits. The schedule files, Parts 14-17, contain specific deductible
amounts, dollar benefits, coinsurance provisions, maximum benefits, and
benefit periods. Wherever possible, copies of policies or booklets
describing the coverage and benefits were obtained in order to abstract
this information.

Data Collection Notes

Sample

The HIPS sample consisted of a subset of the employers,
unions, and other sources of health insurance identified by respondents
to the 1987 NMES Household Survey and SAIAN and included (1) all
employers associated with jobs held by individuals at least 16 years
old in Round 4 of the Household Survey, (2) the most recent employer of
individuals not employed in Round 4 who were at least 21 years old, and
(3) all sources of health insurance that were identified by Household
Survey respondents as in force at the end of 1987.